Aside From Dynasty: The Joan Collins Thread

[ClassyCo]

One thing that often pops up in biographies on Joan Collins is the fact that Fox had originally cast her in CLEOPATRA, producer Walter Wanger's pet project. In 1959, the budget was originally set at $2 million, the movie was going to be filmed on Fox's back lot, and was going to star Collins as the Queen of the Nile, Peter Finch as Julius Caesar, and Stephen Boyd as Mark Antony.

But as Fox decided to broaden the production, studio executives hedged their bets by decisioning to replace Collins (a yet-to-proven box office star) with Elizabeth Taylor, then one of the most famous women in America. Taylor signed on to play Cleopatra for a record-breaking salary of $1 million (costly delays eventually had her final pay being around $7 million).

Here is a clip of Collins' screen test for CLEOPATRA:

Evidently the two women were at cordial with one another. I remember Collins saying around the time that Elizabeth died that they were good friends and she hated being called "Liz".
​

 

[Grant Jennings]

One thing that often pops up in biographies on Joan Collins is the fact that Fox had originally cast her in CLEOPATRA, producer Walter Wanger's pet project. In 1959, the budget was originally set at $2 million, the movie was going to be filmed on Fox's back lot, and was going to star Collins as the Queen of the Nile, Peter Finch as Julius Caesar, and Stephen Boyd as Mark Antony.

But as Fox decided to broaden the production, studio executives hedged their bets by decisioning to replace Collins (a yet-to-proven box office star) with Elizabeth Taylor, then one of the most famous women in America. Taylor signed on to play Cleopatra for a record-breaking salary of $1 million (costly delays eventually had her final pay being around $7 million).

Here is a clip of Collins' screen test for CLEOPATRA:

Evidently the two women were at cordial with one another. I remember Collins saying around the time that Elizabeth died that they were good friends and she hated being called "Liz".
​

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Call me crazy but I think a lower budget movie starring Colins, Finch and Boyd might have been much better than the extravaganza we got.

 

[Alexis]

Call me crazy but I think a lower budget movie starring Colins, Finch and Boyd might have been much better than the extravaganza we got.

I really agree with this. Cleopatra is a pretty terrible film. An overblown spectacle that goes on and on forever. Never do I feel the need to sit down and watch it as it's so terminally dull. I think if the film was mostly done at the fox backlot and maybe in the California or Nevada desert for some location work it actually would have been better than the wasted time in London and Rome. Why they thought filming what's supposed to be Egypt in England in I think September/October was a good idea, I will never know! The film would have probably had more matte shots instead of huge sets, but the film wouldn't have cost so much due to delays and all the silly back and forth all over the bloody world.
Stephen Boyd was a fine actor too and I think he would have been great with Joan. Cleopatra maybe could have been Joan's break out role. Not the huge overblown rambling spiel of nonsense that it was. I think a lot of the film would have been better if the budget was not so huge. I think even the wardrobe wouldn't have been the mess that it was. Elizabeth Taylor's costumes were fitted so specifically to her shape, and to reflect the shapes of the times, it's all so 1960s. I know that's very of the time for films to not ever manage to not look the period they were, if they were shot in the 1960s. However if the film was shot with Joan, and with a lesser budget the wardrobe would have probably been more faithful to the times. Probably more in line with some of the biblical epics that were being done at the time. Not really historically accurate, but more what one would expect. Joan couldn't have made the demands that Elizabeth made.

 

[Crimson]

Hard to speculate if a lower budget CLEOPATRA with Joan would have been better than the Liz film, but it's hard to imagine it being worse. The film we got is a ponderous, gaudy bore. Even if the Joan Collins version turned out comparable to ESTHER AND THE KING (1960) -- overheated balderdash on paper maché sets -- at least it wouldn't have been interminable.

 

[Crimson]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1567199825686298624

 

[Alexis]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1567199825686298624

The documentary was quite good, I keep meaning to get it, and look out for the one on Jackie too.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

Joan once played a Batman villainess.
I believe that she is one of very few actresses who are still with us from that series.

Her role in "The Bravados", opposite Gregory Peck was quite compelling

Just for fun, she was Wilma's mother in "The Flinstones: Viva Rock Vegas"

 

[ClassyCo]

I like Joan as a star; she plays the part to the hilt

And that, I've come to believe, is her finest performance -- being Joan Collins.

Just for fun, she was Wilma's mother in "The Flinstones: Viva Rock Vegas"

Which is the 2000 prequel to the 1994 film. Joan takes over a role Elizabeth Taylor had played in the earlier movie.

 

[ClassyCo]

Precursor to the rest of my post: My wife is not as well-versed when it comes to old stars, TV shows, and movies. Keep that in mind.

I was watching a fifth season episode of ROSEANNE a couple of weeks ago and in walks Joan Collins as Roseanne and Jackie's cousin Ronnie.

My goes, "Oh, who is that?"
"Joan Collins," I say.
"Wow, she's hot," my wife says.
"Yeah," I reply, "she's probably pushing 60 in this episode. She was beautiful for her age."
"I wouldn't even say 'for her sge'," my wife says, "she's a knock out no matter her age."

A connection was made in my wife's head that evening. My father-in-law has told of us how he used to aggravate his mother as a teenager in the 1980s by saying Joan Collins was hot. His mother would be infuriated and say, "She's old enough to be your mother, maybe even your grandmother!"

Needless to say, my wife finally had an image of Joan Collins to put in her head after seeing her on ROSEANNE (we watched some DYNASTY clips afterwards) and found that she agreed with her dad -- Joan Collins was hot.

 

[DallasFanForever]

Joan Collins was hot.

As a teenager for most of the time she was on Dynasty I would have to agree. I would get the “old enough to be your grandmother” comments as well but to me beauty is still beauty, regardless of the age. Joan always looked terrific.

I was watching a fifth season episode of ROSEANNE a couple of weeks ago and in walks Joan Collins as Roseanne and Jackie's cousin Ronnie.

I love this episode! When I first heard Joan would be doing an episode of ROSEANNE I was skeptical. It just didn’t sound like a good fit but I have to say I was wrong. The scene at the end with her and Rosie trading wisecracks was absolutely hilarious! It was good to see her do something different than what we were used to.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Throckmorton!

I like Joan as a star; she plays the part to the hilt without being obnoxious about it.

Oh, I wouldn't go that far...